By Nkhensani Chauke
The Independent Electoral Commission has praised the smooth, incident-free and timely opening of all 57 voting stations during the municipal by-elections for the Thabazimbi Local Municipality in Limpopo.
This follows an IEC media briefing at the Mini-Results Operations Centre at Thabazimbi’s Bioskop Hall on the latest municipal by-election developments.
Provincial Electoral Officer Nkaro Mateta told reporters that the commission was satisfied with the steady voter turnout in Thabazimbi.
“With over 51,000 registered voters eligible to participate in this important democratic exercise, the Electoral Commission is encouraged by the steady turnout so far,” said Mateta.
She said voter participation was vital to shaping the future of the municipality.
“The Electoral Commission thanks all voters for their patience and commitment to South Africa’s democratic process. Let us work together to ensure a free, fair and peaceful by-election,” said Mateta.
Special voting for the by-elections was held on Tuesday. A total of 4748 special vote applications were approved, including 4083 special votes at voting stations and 665 through home visits.
A total of 2387 voters cast their ballots, recording a voter turnout of 50.2%.
Mateta said that the commission was committed to upholding electoral integrity and transparency throughout the electoral process.
“The Electoral Commission continues to meet the key role players in this elections, political parties and independent candidates, through the Provincial and Local Political Liaison Committees,” she said.
“We continuously engage on unfolding election process, the issues arising from the operations in various sites of the voting stations.”
Mateta added that the counting of all ballots would take place after the conclusion of the voting at 9pm on Wednesday night, with representatives from parties and contestants present.
“After the counting process, the commission will allocate the seats. For allocation of seats, we will apply proportional representation for the local council, and majoritarian of results to seats allocation,” she said.
She said political parties and independents have until Friday to lodge complaints of irregularities on the by-elections.
“Parties and independents may object to alleged irregularities during voting, counting, or up to 5pm on Friday, 6 December 2024, under Section 65 of the Municipal Electoral Act, following the announcement of election results,” she said.
Limpopo ANC spokesperson Jimmy Machaka told Inside Metro that his party was pleased with the on-going election at Thabazimbi Local Municipality.
Machaka said the ANC launched a strong election campaign and was confident of victory after the counting of the ballots.
“We have mounted a strong campaign. We are confident of victory. However, we continue to urge our people to vote for the ANC, and we continue to urge our volunteers to keep working hard until the closing period at 9pm,” said Machaka.
“So far the turnout is pleasing, and we are hopeful that it will be above 50%.”
Umkhonto We Sizwe deputy chief whip Muzi Ntshingila told Inside Metro that the voting and voter turnout were very slow but promising.
Ntshingila said he hoped that the turnout would pick up later on Wednesday night as the voting continued.
“Voting was slow but hopefully it will pick up later in the day,” he said.
The DA campaign Manager Desiree Van Der Walt told Inside Metro that her party could only acknowledge the voting and voter turnout when they were done with the results.
“We will know [about the full picture of the voter turnout] when we are done,” she said.
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Mosa Chabane, visited Thabazimbi on Tuesday to assess the state of readiness of the IEC to hold the by-elections following the municipality’s dissolution.
He made assurance that all systems were ready for the fiercely contested by-elections and highlighted concerns over lack of access to one voting station at a prominent mining house.
“We call on mining houses to all 21 registered political parties in the voting district located in the area to campaign and mobilise voters,’’ he said.
INSIDE METROS